What is your favorite budget audio component?

NAD 3020A integrated.  Remarkably solid performer within limits, no tone controls, 20wpc of solid current, preamp-out/power-in for versatility.  The preamp and phono are astonishingly good for the level.  Power amp able to drive down to 2 ohms.

A simple cheap upgrade was to use quality short IC patches to bridge the preamp-out/power-in.  As a stand alone preamp/phono connected to bad-ass mono blocks it was truly frightening.  Lovely design.

Elizabeth...if you recommend stuff like this for other, possibly less experienced audiophiles, it might be beneficial,  if not totally appropriate, to explain the science behind such tweaks.  There is a lot of just plain bad info going around in the audio world.  I mean, like, some people use refrigerators to break in their high priced AC outlets.

Logitech Squeezebox Touch- still going strong many years after it was discontinued